


in the all long (and in betweens)

by youngerdrgrey



Category: Queen Sugar (TV)
Genre: 2x12, F/M, Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: Charley settles next to Micah in the dessert line. Clears her throat and asks him, “So, Tamar Judith?”// alternate take on 2x12 and how Charley could've ended out the night of the Queen Sugar Festival.





	in the all long (and in betweens)

**i.**

 

Charley settles next to Micah in the dessert line. He doesn't notice her over the Zydeco and the fact that his girlfriend's holding court on the other side of the room. Keke catches his stare and beams over at him. Micah smiles back like she’s his whole world. With his eyes that bright and his love so focused, he’s never looked more like Davis.

Charley swallows. Clears her throat and asks him, “So, Tamar Judith?” Her voice is as level as the table in front of them, yet Micah still hears her pain.

He still turns with a drop to his shoulders and an apology on his lips. “I probably could’ve warned you.”

“It’s fine, Micah. Davis makes his own decisions.”

The line moves forward. Micah says, “I went off on him about it weeks ago. It’s not right, and it sucks that you had to find out today.”

There’s never really a good day to find out that her ex has moved on. Or, continues to move on. He hadn’t even waited until they were over to start again, so she shouldn’t have to feel this churning inside. Shouldn’t struggle with the right way to say that it doesn’t matter. She has Remy. She cares about Remy, and she wants him more than she ever thought she could want another man. At the same time, though, she’s never had to see Davis with another woman.

Her son's certainly never seen it. He's only seen his father in love before, never in something as casual and simple as whatever this is. Then Davis strolls in with someone else. He compounds the fact that this whole day has been like someone taking a shit on her dreams and expectations. She can re-work them; she just needs a moment to make that happen.

The line moves forward again. Vi’s still at the end, slicing and handing out pieces. Charley catches her eye accidentally and forces up a smile. Micah picks it up and wears one too.

He asks, “Are you okay?”

She shakes her head, but her smile doesn’t fall. “I’ll get there.” When she looks down at him, she smiles a bit more honestly. Her lips shake, and he side-steps so he can give her one of those one-armed hugs he’s growing real fond of. He squeezes her enough to remind her that he’s here, that he loves her and will always be there for her. Then he steps back into his own space, barely giving her enough time to school the emotions that try to slip out.

“Ma—“

“What kind?” The volunteer smiles at the both of them. She waves her pie cutter before repeating herself. “What kind? Of pie?”

Micah needs a moment to process, but Charley tucks everything down.

Charley says, “The butterscotch sounds fantastic. Thank you.” Micah echoes her idea like he’s been doing his whole life. They take the pieces and step out of the line entirely.

He says, “Grandma said that divorce feels like a competition to the people that are in it.” He bangs his left fist against his thigh. “I know it’s not, but if it was, you’d be winning. By a lot.”

Her lips tremble so she presses them together. Blinks down the emotion a little bit more.

“Thank you, baby.”

Winning's all that matters, right?

 

**ii.**

 

"You win, Charley." Davis calls the words out to her. Tosses them like a bone onto the ground of the mill. "You hear that?" His footsteps pound in tune with hers even as she speeds up. "You _win_."

She whips around, and it's time like these that she misses the ponytails. Misses the way they slashed through the air and cut him down to size without more than a turn. But she doesn't have that armor anymore. She's soft curls and light music and fucking pity party festivals in her backyard.

This isn't victory. This is concession. This is compromise with an unyielding, racist force that doesn't care about how many degrees she has, or which multi-million dollar contracts she's negotiated. This isn't winning. And when Davis looks at her, he sees it. He sees the tension in her jaw that no amount of screaming could ever release. He sees the way her breath rattles in her chest before she lets it out. So, he does what he knows how to do.

He slinks forward to meet her in the middle of the hall. “Charley. Come on, I know you. No matter what, I _know_ you.” His eyes steal hers. Her head tilts up on instinct to maintain the contact. “Baby, he might be able to say the right things,” but Davis doesn’t even have to move his hands for her to feel the ghost of them against her skin. The hair on her arms shocks up, and he ducks his head enough that he could be right at her neck. She shouldn’t react, but it’s instinctive at this point. “But I can do all that and more. Just let me.” He’s left barely any space between their bodies, but he leaves her a choice. Gives her the space to decide how to respond. “Let it be good.”

He could fix it all. The tension, the migraine throbbing at the side of her head, this need for something to go right. All she has to do is let him. Give in.

They could be out this hall and in the barracks in minutes. Nobody knows to look for them. Vi has pies to serve, so she won’t be there. And Davis, he could make it worth sneaking away.

She means to just answer, but the breath she takes opens her chest up to him. Trying to meet his eye means she frees up her neck too. Speaks into his.

“And then what, Davis?”

His breathless chuckle hits her skin. “Whatever you want.” His fingers brush hers. He tugs open the fist she doesn’t even remember making. Her fingers shake as they lock with his. Her lips shake, and her pulse thrashes, but she should say no, right? Walk away and leave him wanting the way he’d left her.

He kisses her neck. Once. Twice. And she just closes her eyes and lets her head roll back.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> listen, I get that other people might not want to see Charley falling back in with Davis in a moment of weakness. but, can't you picture it though? can't you see the way Dawn's eyes would close and her neck would roll back and a commercial would play??


End file.
